Forgotten God Quote

From a post @ Tim Chester's blog.  He quoted a book, Forgotten God, by Francis Chan.  A good reminder about the Holy Spirit....

“From my perspective, the Holy Spirit is tragically neglected and, for all practical purposes, forgotten. While no evangelical would deny his existence, I’m willing to bet there are millions of churchgoers across America who cannot confidently say they have experienced his presence or action in their lives over the past year. And many of them do not believe they can.” (15).

Funny how I will often quote Acts 1:8...And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes fourth..and you will be my witness to Jerusalem and in both Judea and Samaria and to the end of the world...*quoted off my head so the wordings might be off*

Then I go run around without seeking the Holy Spirit, commune with the Holy Spirit or to know the Holy Spirit.

A forgiven heart....

Tonight, I managed to have a joyful conversation with a brother whom I had to ask for forgiveness in Feb.

And it bring joy in me. Tears in the eyes. Because before my heart is so cold I can never come to grip to even speak to him in a joyful manner.

This is the Holy Spirit at work...the ministry of reconciliation. We are first reconcile with God...then we can reconcile with one another...

Unless I realize I was forgiven by my Father....the debt been paid...I was never able to go and make peace with my brothers and sisters...

And I thank You. B/c You show me what's good and just. What's mercy and what's kindness. What's grace...so much grace.....my heart overflows...

Thank you.

Quote

Complete weakness and dependence will always be the occasion for the Spirit of God to manifest His power.

Oswald Chambers

Comfort Zone

In walking with Christ, there is no comfort zone. As everyday, I have to battle my own sinful desire.

Though, those who know Christ, who hear His calling, will always be in a zone of comfort. Even in the midst of suffering, persecution and self sacrifice. As the Holy Spirit is the comforter.

A Christian walks out of comfort zone everyday. Yet at the same time, they are always be in comfort zone as the Holy Spirit dwells in them.

Share the Good News!

When it's all said and done..more is said.

That was my response to a friend a while ago over the topic of evangelism and outreach in our local church. We study the passage to death (Matthew 28:18-20). We have events to fire up people to go out and share the Good News. We have group activities, sharing, games to talk about evangelism, Great Commission. Yet all these effort, the proclaiming of the gospel still yet to be seen. (note: this might be a rather negative statement.)

For my own experience, nothing is more convicting than the truth of the Bible. Like a mirror. A glimpse of what I consider 'doing' the work for Christ is not what the Bible points to.

In John 1:41, two disciples of John the Baptist heard Jesus is the Messiah, one of them, immediately told his brother.

In Acts, where Paul traveled, he would go into the synagogue and preaches the Gospel (Acts 17:1, 10, 17, 18:5 etc.)

It is amazing what I learn from reading the Bible :). Page after page. Passage after passage. The gospel is being spread. It is told. It is proclaim. At times during persecution. At times when it is in peace. No matter what season or the circumstance. The Good News ispreach!

This month is Mission Month in my church. The weekend my pastor invited another pastor from NYC to talk about evangelism.

Yesterday we went to pass out gospel tracts in Mississauga. I told my pastor, "I am afraid but I am still going to go."

So yesterday, a bunch of us, in a busy corner passing gospel tracts. To be honest, I rather be doing something else. BUT...a big BUT....when Jesus calls and if I told Him I will follow, I will.

My pastor described evangelism as being obedient to the Lord's work. It wasn't about the result. There were those who took the tracts. Some rejected it. A lady yelled at me screaming, "my arms are full!" (hehe...really both of her hands were holding groceries). A man questioned me and asked me what about Islam.

We will not know where the tracts will lead to. We are just the messenger. God is the One who grows and changes the heart. The saddest part will be standing before Jesus and He asks me, "Cliff, what have you done with the blessings I bestow upon you?"

If all the blessings I spend on myself and my indulgence....I think we are pretty sure we know whether I am cliff-centered of Christ-centered. I just want my faith to be something real. Authentic. If it is puff up with nothing inside...I might as well forgo accepting this faith. It is either all-in or all-out. There is no other way.

Today, I had an opportunity to sit down with Don. We talked about my trip to Australia. A lot of laughs over pho. Before I dropped him off, I gave him a Bible. He told me he got one from me already (OOPS! Forgot about that). I told him this one is easier to read (it is a NLT version). I told him to read Luke and Acts. They are easier to read and give a good story of being a Christian. We prayed at pho and I told him God has been blessing him being able to row at 70 and still win medals.

Lord, I am not worthy to proclaim your message or consider as your children.

Because of your grace through Jesus Christ, my broken life was reconciled.

Might You be pleased with this offering.

Might Your Kingdom come upon Mississauga.

Might those who are your children be filled with the Spirit.

To be bold and courage to proclaim the Truth.

To be compassionated and love those who are lost.

As we were all lost before You reveal Yourself to us.

To not be distracted by many things in life.

Because these things, no matter how fine they are, will not last.

Might we focus on the eternal.

For temporal is second class.

And it is a shame to spend forever to dwell upon things that will pass away.

Holy Spirit and Fellowship

After being back to Canada for about a week, a part of me still misses Australia. Perhap not so of the geographic area (I still love those beaches). More so of the quiet time and the freedom I have. I am leaning more that perhaps this is a sign that I am carrying too much things in life right now. Need to maintain the travel light mentality.

Anyways, one of the most joyful moment is reading the Bible and letting God speak to me. There will be moments I will read through a few passages like a breeze. At other times, I will pause and deliberately focus on different aspect (like Holy Spirit, mission, trinity, justification etc.)

It was during Australia that I am enlightened and something caught my eye between Holy Spirit and fellowship. But before I do so, I like to bring up a passage from Acts 2 about fellowship.

⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)

This is usually the passage we study when it comes to fellowship. In NIV, Acts 2:42 has a heading, the Fellowship of the Believers. Often, I thought about how important it is to love one another. You have to love one another to the point of sharing everything.

If we read a few verse prior to this, we will see Peter called them to "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."

I failed to recognize the importance of the Holy Spirit. There is a parallel text a few chapter down.

³¹After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

³²All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. ³³With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. ³⁴There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales ³⁵and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

³⁶Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), ³⁷sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.

Acts 4:31-37

This is amazing. Between Acts 2:39-47 and Acts 4:31-37, there is a similarilty...and we see what's the horse and what's the cart.

Receive the Holy Spirit <- the horse

Receive the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:38b and being filled with Holy Spirit in Acts 4:31b

All believers are together and in one heart <- the cart

As a result, everyone share everything with each other.

Acts 2:45 - selling possessions and goods and gave to anyone in need.

Acts 4:34-35 - there is no needy persons among them as people who own possessions will buy and sell and the money will distribute to those in need.

In Acts 2:46: they meet daily in the temple courts. Does this happen in Acts 4? Nope, but I think it Acts 4 description of the fellowship continue to Acts 5 and we see it in 5:12 (meet at Solomon's Colonnade).

The biggest take home lesson for me is the power of the Holy Spirit and its role in fellowship. For me, it is very easy, very easy, to focus on what I need to do. Ok, what do I have to do to have this fellowship to love with one another. Oh, we can do this or do that (insert program or activities). Or how can we make our fellowship more loving (notice the emphasis on us).

Looking at the Scripture, it dawned on me that the love of one another is the cart and being filled with the Holy Spirit is the horse. The believers were first filled with the Holy Spirit, that's why they come together and share everything in common.

What do I come out of this? All I can say is..come Holy Spirit, we need you. I need you. Guide us. If it is a program that you are leading. Reveal to us.

Holy Spirit, thank you.

My pastor made me memorize Acts 1:8 last week.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit come fourth. And you will be my witness to both Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria, and to the remotest part of earth. (memorize, did not copy, NASB version)

Yesterday we had a anniversary service. It was awesome. Not because it was flashy. But to feel the persence of the Holy Spirit dawning on us.

I just want to say thank you. May You continue to convict us so we can do the Father's Will and be bold in faith.